Dental instrument



Dec, 2, 1924.

H. A. TRUXILLO DENTAL INSTRUMENT Filegl March 22 INVENTOR ATTORNEY WITNESS:

Patented Dec. 2, 1924.

UNETFEE STATES HENRY A. TRUXILLO, OF ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.

DENTAL INSTRUMENT.

Application filed March 22, 1924.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY A. Tnoximio. citizen of the United States, residing at Elizabeth, in the county of Union and State of New Jersey, have invented new and useful Improvements in Dental Instruments, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to dental instruments and more particularly to an instrument for holding a length of dental floss or a piece of abrasive material for insertion between the teeth.

The principal object of the invention is to provide an instrument which. may be quickly associated with a strip of abrasive material used in the dental profession for insertion between the teeth for the purpose of pa king a filling or burnishing and polishing the filling, or for cleaning purposes, and is particularly designed for this purpose when working on teeth located in the back of the mouth and which are awkward to reach should the polishing strip be held in the fingers of the hand such as the case at the present time.

Another object of the invention is to provide an instrument wherein the clamping jaws for holding a strip of material may be locked in clamping engagement by the compression of a pair of handles to a predetermined point, and whereby further compression of the handles will cause the jaws to separate to release the strip.

A still further object is to provide a dental instrument for the purpose mentioned and which includes a pair of separable sections which may be quickly taken apart and sterilized for sanitary purposes.

With these and other objects in view, the invention resides in certain novel construction and combination and arrangement of parts, the essential features of which are hereinafter fully described, are particularly pointed out in the appended claims, and are illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of my invention showing the jaws in open position.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the parts separated.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the invention with the jaws in locked position.

Figure t is a longitudinal sectional view through the jaws.

Serial No. 701,171.

Figure 5 is a transverse sectional view on the line 55 of Figure 3.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the reference numeral 10 designates my invention in its entirety and which includes a pair of co-acting separable sections 11 and 12.

The section 11 is formed with a handle 13. one end of which is enlarged or broadened to form a head 1-1. The head 14. is bifurcated as at 15 and the furcated portions 10 are bent downward at their ends to provide jaws 17 for co-action with the jaws on the section 12 and which will presently be described. Soldered or otherwise secured to the inner surface of the handle 13 is a spring 18 formed of a length of relatively stiff wire having one of its ends bent upwardly as at 19 for pressing engagement with the section M, the other end of the spring being bent upwardly and provided with a hook 520.

The section 12 is likewise provided. with a handle formed with a head 22 at one end of a size to it between the furcations 16 of the section 11. The head is formed with a pair. of shoulders 23 for engagement beneath the fur-cations 16 and which co-act with the furcations to fulcrum or pivot the sections one with the other. The head 22 is formed with a pair of downwardly extending jaws 24 for co-action with the jaws 17 as above mentioned. When the two sections are assembled as shown in Figure 1, it will be seen that the portion 19 of the spring will serve to hold the jaws in separated position and upon compression of the handles, the jaws may be closed against the tension of the spring. hen it is desired to clamp a strip of material A between the jaws for insertion between the teeth, the handles are compressed in the manner just described to a predetermined point'whereupon the hook will be. brought into engagement with any one of a plurality of teeth 25 formed in an enlargement 26 on a downwardly ex tending lug 27 carried by the underside of the handle 2-1, and whereby the two handles are locked in engagement with each other; The enlargement 26 is provided with a cam surface as shown in Figure 5 of the drawing, and when it is desired to release the strip of material from the jaws, the handles are further compressed or flexed to move the hook to a position above the enlargement, and when passing over the uppermost tooth, the handle 13 is moved laterally when the hook clears the top of the enlargement. The handle will then automatically spring back to its former position and in so doing, the hook will ride down the cam surface on the back of the enlargement by reason of the pressure exerted by the spring 18.

From the foregoing description, the construction and operation of theinvention is believed to be fully set forth and it will be seen that when a strip of material such as above mentioned has been clamped between the jaws, the instrument may be inserted into the. mouth and is capable of reaching between the teeth in the back of the mouth and which are diflicult to work upon under the present condition for the purpose of cleaning or polishing the filling. \Vhen it is desired to separate the sections 11 and 12 for the purpose of sterilizing the instru-- ment, the same may be easily removed by spreading the handles and moving the shoulders from beneath the turcations 16.

Vhile I have described what I deem to be the most desirable embodiment of my invention, it is obvious that many of the details may be varied vithout in any way departing from the spirit of my invention and I thereiore donot limit myself to the exact details of construction herein set forth nor to anything less than the whole of my invention limited only by the appended claims.

hat is claimed as new is 1. An instrument of the class described comprising a pair of separate sections, spaced co-acting jaws formed on said sections, means for normally holding said awg in spaced relation to each other, and co-aoting means for locking said jaws into clamping engagement with each other.

2. An instrument of the class described comprising a pair of separate secitons, spaced co-acting jaws formed on said sections, means for normally holding said jaws in spaced relation to each other, and co-acting means for locking said jaws into clamping engagement with each other, said last means comprising a hook member carried by one of said sections, and a depending lug having teeth formed on the other oi said member for engagement by said. hook member.

3. An instrument of the class described comprising a pair of co-acting separable sections, one of said sections being biturcated to provide a pair of spaced jaws, the other of said sections formed with shoulders for engagement beneath the furcations of said first sections, and jaws formed on said last mentioned sections for co-action with said first mentioned jaws.

4. An instrument of the class described comp 'ising a pair of co-acting separable sections, one of said sections being bitui cated to provide a pair of spaced jaws, the other of said sections formed with shoulders for engagement beneath the furcations oi? said first sections, and jaws formed on said last mentioned sections for co-acting with said first mentioned jaws, means "for non mally forcing said jaws away from. each other and means for locking said jaws in closed position.

In testimony whereof I have atlixed my signature.

HENRY A. TRUXILLO. 

